While tax incentives catch all the headlines, the tax burden local and state governments create through public policy decisions can be much more important to companies considering a region for a corporate site location project. Corporate site location consultants will review and compare the overall amount of local and state government spending for a region, determine the overall tax burden local and state government policy makers place on companies compared to individuals, and, ultimately, define the tax burden for a company considering a corporate site location project comparing the regions under consideration.

Southgate Corporation recently broke ground on a speculative development at 1100 Innovation Way in Marysville, Union County. Site readiness work for the $8.9 million project has already commenced, with an anticipated completion date of Q4 2021. Located within Marysville’s 33 Innovation Park, the development will be comprised of 84,000 SF of multi-tenant Class A industrial and R&D speculative space at 1100 Innovation Way, as well as an adjacent pad-ready site that can accommodate a building of up to 112,000 SF.

The Ohio Economic Development Institute (OEDI) has announced the 2021 schedule of economic development basic and core courses.  In addition to the Ohio Basic Economic Development Course, OEDI has scheduled the five Core Courses, which cover the basic skills for economic development professionals, including Real Estate Development, Finance and Incentives, Business Retention and Expansion and Site Development and Attraction, and Workforce and Talent. All courses in 2021 will be conducted online.

Rural communities are prime targets for companies considering a corporate site location project. Rural areas in the U.S. cover 97 % of the nation’s land area but contain 19.3 % of the population who are more likely to own a single family home, are older and less likely to hold a bachelor’s degree or be in poverty than their urban counters.

American Electric Power (Nasdaq: AEP) has promoted Timothy J. Wells to vice president, Sales, Economic and Business Development, effective Nov. 2, 2020. Wells replaces Mark James who retired last month.

Wells, 55, will lead AEP’s efforts to attract new commercial and industrial customers to its service territory and help existing customers take advantage of AEP’s growing menu of business consultation services. AEP has unique expertise in the energy field and has become a trusted energy advisor to many of its larger customers. Wells will be responsible for leading growth in services that fall outside of the distribution and transmission of electricity, in addition to helping communities bring new jobs to their local economies.